


Mind Games

by Ande883



Category: Zootopia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-03 12:17:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13341096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ande883/pseuds/Ande883
Summary: Judy is disappointed with her life, though Nick Wilde, Master of the Mammalian Mind... or just Nick Wilde, therapist, for short, might just have what she's looking for. My contribution to the What If? Collaboration.





	1. Chapter 1

_Mind Games - Chapter 1 - A Red Fellow_

_Written by Ande883_

_Edited by Cimar_

* * *

"Niiiiiiiick! C'mon! I want to do something!" came the annoyed shout from the living room. Back in their own bedroom, Nick sat at a small wooden desk trying to get some boring work done paying bills and other adult things.

 _Lord knows I'm the only adult in this apartment anymore…_  he thought jokingly to himself. Hearing the distress call from his wife made him laugh at how she'd changed since she got pregnant. The strange cravings, the inability to do anything herself. Sure, that last one wasn't entirely her fault. She needed a lot of help just to get off the couch the past few days since their incident with her sister.

He was glad that it had only been that much, though. There was one thing that he didn't think he could handle.

"Nick! I am going to kill you if you don't get your butt out here and take me somewhere!"

Nick gulped. Perhaps he had thought too soon.

"Mood swings…" he mumbled to himself. Nick arose out of the desk and walked into the living room where Judy lay on the couch, just as she had for the last couple of days. It pained him to see her like that because he knew how much she liked to work, but with her being so far along and the kits almost ready to be born, her maternity leave was in full force, not even allowing her to do desk work.

"Nick…" she said as she saw him. A couple of sniffs later and Nick was confused as ever as to what she was really feeling. "I'm so sorry for yelling at you! I don't want to upset you in any way!" she cried, the tears flowing like streams down her cheeks. Nick sat by her and pulled her face into his chest, letting her still cry as he stroked her ears. This was the best way to calm a sad bun-bun, he'd learned.

"Do you want to go to Fitwik's?" Nick asked.

"Mmm hmm," she mumbled, face still pressed into Nick's chest and nodding. Nick wasted no time in helping her up and going straight to the door.

When they arrived, Judy headed straight for the PIXAR machine and began looking for something that caught her eye. Nick just stood by her and watched, knowing that she was going to want to do whatever she wanted, and Nick really had no say in the choice.

"This one!" Judy said, pointing her finger at the scenario she'd selected. Nick leaned forward and took a look at it.

"Really? You want to do that one?"

"But… *sniff* I just thought that… *sniff* it would be… *sniff* kinda fun, you know?"

"Alright, we'll do that one."

* * *

Judy is depressed.

It was nearly two in the morning and the young rabbit had just made it to her tiny apartment in the middle of the big city. Another week of this and she was going to lose it. But that was what she told herself every week. Just keep holding on a little longer and things will get better. For months she'd been putting in the worst possible hours, long night shifts that never seemed to let up. But she still had hope that they'd get better. She always did.

Her only form of relief was coming home to a nice and quiet apartment; a drastic change from the noisy and fast-paced atmosphere of working at a rather popular diner. Judy let out a sigh of relief walking into her apartment hearing absolutely nothing but the hum of the tiny refrigerator. It almost hurt her ears it was so quiet.

Judy glanced out the small and only window in her one-room apartment. The city was still awake, cars driving by and night-mammals carousing the streets, their shouts and hollers making the rabbit wish she had just gone back home several years ago.

Most nights she didn't even bother taking off her uniform. She had enough to last seven days as long as she wore the same one at least twice. She usually slept hard enough that it never got wrinkled. Tonight she didn't even have the energy to pull the covers over herself. Judy didn't know if she even wanted to at this point. It was cold in her apartment; she turned off the heat at night to save money. She sometimes wondered if it would be better to just freeze to death in her own home. Maybe Hell was warmer.

Judy lay in her bed, unable to get herself to move. On most days she would be getting up by noon only to go back to work at two, work until two in the morning and do it all over again. It was a vicious cycle of monotony. But it was her life and she just had to deal with it. Luckily for her, she was going to have a day off from work tomorrow. Unlucky for her, she was going to be spending it at the wedding of someone she hardly knew.

One of her coworkers knew the groom and decided to invite Judy, as well as set her up with someone else she didn't know. Her friend was a great mammal and well-intentioned with the setup, but Judy didn't want that right now. She was fine living alone. In all reality, she was probably better off alone for the time being. She found herself being irritable more often than she should have been.

Even though the day was not going to be dedicated to her getting some much-needed rest, she was happy that she wasn't spending it at the diner. She hadn't had a full day off in over a month. The hours were starting to take their toll, her sanity slowly wasting away. But it was better than anything else she could get. She'd tried for something better long ago, but that ended horribly, forcing her to take the job at the diner until she could get her chance again. That chance still hadn't come.

If there was one thing that she liked about her job, it was that it made her dead tired by the end of her shift so she never had to worry about having sleeping problems. As she stared at the ceiling of her apartment, Judy felt her eyelids slowly get heavier and heavier until the world around her was completely black.

* * *

"Have a seat, Judes. Glad you could make it!" said a bubbly feminine voice. Judy sluggishly turned her head to see her bunny friend waving to her in an overly dramatic way. It was too early in the morning for all of her cheeriness for Judy's taste, but at least she didn't irritate the carrots out of her.

Judy took a seat on the opposite side of the booth from the brown bunny. She looked over her friend; there was nothing new about her, but Judy was too tired to move very quickly.

Kristie was about the exact opposite of Judy. She was happy all the time and usually showed it a bit too much for most mammal's liking. It was that positive energy that made her a hit at the diner and was probably the only reason that Judy hadn't burned the place to the ground yet. It could be mildly infectious sometimes. She had brown eyes that almost seemed to have flecks of gold in them.

"Not so loud, Kris… My head is killing me…" Judy mumbled while laying her chin on the table, her ears flopping over her eyes.

"I didn't say anything, silly!" she said with a bright smile.

"I can practically hear you smiling. Must you always be so happy?"

For perhaps the first time in weeks, Judy watched as Kristie's smile fell away, though not in sadness. She wasn't sure if that doe was capable of being sad. She looked concerned. It was a look that Judy had seen a couple of times before. It always came when she was at her worst.

Judy, despite how much she despised Kristie's bubbly and outgoing personality, appreciated how caring and considerate she was of Judy's feelings. She was the one one that she could go to for anything; a true friend.

"I don't know, maybe it was you that made me want to be so happy. Like, I love you Judy, but you're always so down on everything. It's a little bit much sometimes. I wish you tried to be happy at least once."

"What, you think I don't try to be happy? I would love for my life to change, but things just don't go my way. Things haven't gone my way ever since that incident at—"

Kristie leaned forward and grabbed hold of Judy's ears and gave them a good yank, hard enough to cause Judy to pull back and finally sit up.

"Oww! What was that for?!" What met Judy's eyes was something that she had never seen before. Kristie looked angry.

"Stop thinking about it! You do that all the time and it drives me nuts! Please, just think about anything else!" she finished with a huff.

Judy couldn't believe her sore ears. Kristie had just yelled at her, and not in a 'Hey Judy, I just saw the most hilarious video!' kind of way. She was genuinely angry. But that look didn't last long as pretty soon Kristie was a heaping mess of apologies.

"OhmyGodJudyI'msosorryaboutyellingatyouIreallydidn'tmeananyharmbyitIjustwantedtotryandgetthatideaintoyourheadthatmaybeyouneededto—"

"Hold up, Kris! Calm down. I'm fine, I probably needed that. It's been on my mind a lot recently. I know I shouldn't think about it…"

"No, I'm sorry. That wasn't very kind of me, was it?"

"Not really, but like I said, I think I needed that." Kristie smiled warmly at Judy. She'd seen the look plenty of times. Over the many years that Judy had known the lovable brown bunny, Kristie had done plenty of things to try and get Judy to be happier. It usually wasn't anything too extravagant, but recently Judy had been extra down on life. She half expected her to do something crazy.

"Well, since you say you actually try to be happy, which I highly doubt," Judy scoffed at Kristie but smiled knowing that she was just getting a hard time from her. "I know that you need to just loosen up those muscles of yours and have a fun night."

"No, I'm not coming to the wedding tonight, and I'm  _definitely_  not going with that buck you told me about."

"Oh, come on, Judy! He's fantastic! I promise you'll have a great time! I think that's what you need most. A good time and a good buck. Abra Kadabra, you've got a happier life!" Kristie exclaimed at a level that was probably too loud for the inside of a cafe early on a Saturday morning. Realizing this, Kristie knew to keep her voice on the quieter side, which was still a bit much for Judy.

"I don't need any sort of magical solution to happiness. I just want to be happy."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Sitting at home all by yourself? You've been doing that for too long Judes… how has that worked out for you?"

"I'm still not coming! I won't know anyone else there except for you!"

"Juuuudyyyy!" Kristie said with her best sad eyes. It was hard to say no to those eyes, but Judy had to remain vigilant in her efforts to stay home.

"No!"

"Plllleassseee!"

"No!"

* * *

"I thought I said no…"

Judy sat alone at one of the many tables in the reception hall. Just as she expected, she knew nobody there except for her friend and the "date" that she was supposed to be with. But he was off with some other rabbits that she didn't know. She could have seen that coming from a mile away. She hadn't spoken a word to her blind date in hours.

All she could do now was wait for the night to be over. Judy checked her phone… in three more hours.

The atmosphere reminded her too much of work. The noise, the tables that still had dirty dishes on them. She almost felt compelled to take them and bring them back to a washroom to be cleaned. That might have been a little more enjoyable than sitting by herself. It was a sad time when she would rather be at work than somewhere else.

"You don't want to be here, do you?" came a mysteriously smooth voice. Judy looked behind her, but she saw no face, only the torso of a significantly taller individual. Bringing her gaze upward, she saw an interesting red fellow. He wasn't like any of the other rabbits at the wedding. In fact...he wasn't a rabbit at all.

"Is it that obvious?" Judy chided. The red fellow pulled a chair in front of her and sat down in a reversed position, resting his chin on the top of the backrest. A big, poofy tail swung happily back and forth behind him. Sharp fangs blinked even in the dim light and two half-lidded emerald spheres stared back into her soul.

"Quite. I've been watching you all night." Judy nearly got up and left, but that gaze was impossible to separate from. She couldn't get herself to move.

"That's a little creepy considering you're a fox at a primarily rabbit wedding. What brings you here?"

"Work," he said simply. "Watching people is my profession. Getting in their heads is part of job description."

"And you're in my head?"

"Well, you asked what brought me here, and I know it certainly wasn't a friend who thinks she's doing a good thing by setting you up with a bunny that doesn't even know you. I actually want to be here, unlike someone else I know." Judy nearly froze in place completely. He'd hit the nail so hard it went through the floorboards.

"You don't know me."

"Right, fluff. I definitely didn't just sum up your night perfectly, correct?"

She paused, eyebrow arching. "Who are you?"

A clawed paw was presented before her. "Nick Wilde, Master of the Mammalian Mind," he said. Judy barely stopped herself from laughing upon hearing his title. She shook his paw with the slightest of smiles.

"Is that your real title?" she responded with a smile.

"No," Nick admitted cooly. "It's actually Nick Wilde, Therapist, for short, but the former has a better ring to it, I'd say." The fox finished his statement with a smirk. It displayed his fangs much more profoundly than before and they glimmered in the dim light of the room even more impressively than before. Judy felt a shudder travel up her spine upon seeing them, but she wasn't afraid of them; she even felt compelled to get a closer look, or even touch them.

He sure didn't look like a therapist. He looked almost like a bum from the streets and definitely didn't belong at this wedding. He wore a partially unbuttoned green tropical shirt with a purple and blue striped tie that hung loosely around his neck. To her, he looked like someone that couldn't be trusted. Despite those thoughts, Judy couldn't get herself to leave. His gaze kept drawing her back to him.

"Well, Nick Wilde, Therapist… why are you so keen on bothering me of all people right now?"

"Not bothering. Inquiring. As I mentioned before, watching people is my job. I study movements, body language, anything that hints at what your mind is trying to tell you, but not outright showing. I make them feel better. I can make you feel better."

"I don't need help," she said, knowing that she most definitely needed help.

"You adjusted your seating position as you said that. You just lied to me, did you not?" the fox quipped.

Judy crossed her arms and frowned at Nick. "No thanks. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough: I don't need another mammal telling me how to feel." Upon finishing her statement, Judy stood up and turned away, but she was stopped by a paw grabbing her shoulder. She should have done everything that she could have to get away from this creep, but she once again couldn't move, just like when he was staring so deeply into her eyes. It startled her, but she didn't want to run. His touch was gentle; consoling.

"Not quite, Ms. Hopps," the fox said. Judy turned around sharply.

"How did you know my name? Is this you getting in my head? Can you read my thoughts?" she chided.

"I'm flattered, but I'm a therapist, not a magician. Your name card is right there on the table. I just assumed you were sitting at your assigned spot."

Judy hmphed, almost getting the chance to storm off again, but he placed his paw on her shoulder again. It felt so unlike anything she'd felt before; she almost rested her cheek on it.

"I don't tell people how to feel. I show them how they want to feel and help them get there. Now, I've done this for a long time. I know when someone needs help." Judy watched as his other paw reached into his pocket and pulled out a small business card, placing it in her paw and closing it around the card, then he walked away. "The first visit is free. Think about it, Judy. You can't do this on your own." Nick took a few more steps before he stopped and turned back to her one last time.

"Look at how far that's gotten you."

His final words felt like knives being pressed through her lungs. It almost sounded like he spoke them in spite.

Judy was left by herself once again. The entire room danced with light and color while her whole world stood completely still. She blinked a few times, suddenly finding herself searching the room for that fox. He was nowhere to be seen; like he had disappeared.

Judy's foot tapped in anger. "That conniving little… Ahh! Who does he think he is acting like he knows everything I'm going through?" she said to herself. And yet the more she thought about his final words, the more they seemed undeniably true. For the last few years, all she'd done for herself was coast by and let life happen. It wasn't making her happy, and that much was obvious enough for anyone to see.

She knew that her life was terrible, but she didn't think it was so bad that she needed help. She didn't think a fox could be a therapist, let alone help her find joy in life.

Judy looked at the business card in her paw. It was nearly blank; all that was printed on it was a street address and a phone number. No name, no cheesy business slogan. It was everything she would need to find him again. Her mind went back to earlier in the day. Kristie had basically told her that she didn't actually want to be happy. Letting life happen while she sat on the sidelines was a sure-fire way to stay where she was.

Her ticket to a better life sat in her paws right now.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2 - Sessions_

_Written by Ande883_

_Edited by Cimar_

* * *

Judy opened her eyes, finding herself no longer in her bedroom. She wasn't even in her apartment anymore. But she couldn't figure out where she was. The entire world around her was black.

She sat up and tried to understand what was going on. Her memory was fuzzy making it hard to figure that out.

She turned around, her ears detecting the slightest of sounds from behind her. But once again, she saw nothing. No movement, no color; just an empty void. She frowned and kept thinking, doing everything in her power to understand the situation she was in. But it was no use. Thinking was all she could do, and it wasn't doing anything.

She heard it again, but this time louder and more recognizable. Before, it was completely unrecognizable, but now she thought the sound was a voice and one that was familiar at that.

Judy stood up and turned her whole body towards the direction of the sound. She focused on the one spot where she thought she heard it coming from. Nothing.

"Hello?" she asked, but her words fell upon nothing. She was just imagining those sounds from behind her

"Right here," the voice said, this time as close as it could possibly be. Judy was startled by the sound, frozen in place by its proximity. Judy, with a frown on her face, turned around slowly to meet possibly the one sight she did not want to see.

It was the therapist.

"That's it. Now you're starting to figure those ears out," he said with that infuriatingly alluring smirk that he'd shown her the night of the wedding. His clothes were all the same terrible color combinations, but this time a yellow shirt with a blue and orange tie. Still as hideous as she remembered.

"What do you want?" Judy asked spitefully.

"It's been a while, Ms. Hopps. Have you figured life out by yourself, or are you just ignoring me?"

Judy stared at him, confused as to how he'd managed to get into her dreams. She didn't say anything. There was nothing that she needed to say. All he did was continue to stare down at her with that infuriating smirk and half-lidded eyes.

"What I said still stands. Think about it."

Suddenly, the fox seemed to dissolve into the air, his entire form becoming like a mist and disappearing. Judy felt herself running after him, but ultimately, was left alone in the darkness once again. A feeling of loneliness like she'd never felt before was all she knew until she started hearing more sounds. An alarm clock, cars honking on the street below, and then the darkness lifted and the late morning sun shone through her closed eyelids.

Judy finally opened her eyes, using her paw to shield them from the harshness of the sun. For the first time in a while, Judy woke up and didn't feel tired. It was welcomed, but she felt like she wanted to go out and do something before she went to work. She had energy, which was a rarity in recent times.

Two weeks had gone by since she talked to that creep of a fox. His words hadn't left her mind for a second; she almost felt herself dwelling on his words more often than not, even while she was at work.

Work was almost getting worse. She knew that some things were how you saw them to be, but there was nothing redeeming about her job. It was exhausting, low-paying, and involved the most selfish type of person ever: Customers. She had an undying hatred of customers. They didn't seem to understand that things take time and that they could run out of food sometimes. Complaints were usually without any real substance; they weren't logical to complain about.

" _Look at how far that's gotten you..."_

There was a certain resonance that she couldn't really explain from those words. It was too creepy how true they were. She'd never met him before and yet he seemed to know everything that she'd dealt with. It angered her. Judy didn't want to be read like a book, but he made it look so easy. Maybe she was just that obvious about how she felt, but if she was, then she really must not have cared to feel any better. Maybe she  _didn't_  try to be happy.

Despite how she was adamant to not go and see him again, she kept the card on her desk. She looked at it every day when she got ready for work. Judy looked at it again when she got out of bed and threw on a tight athletic shirt and a pair of leggings. She grabbed her headphones and her old music player and ran out the door.

Long ago, Judy had been quite the athlete. In high school, she was a cross country runner, and one of the best in the Tri-Burrows. Even to this day, she still enjoyed getting out and stretching her legs for a while. Taking a few minutes to literally stretch her legs and the rest of her body, she set out, no particular destination in mind. As far as she was concerned, she might be running until she had to go to work. There was nothing else that she wanted to do right now.

Judy always felt like running was an escape. It actually did make her feel better, but only when she was actually doing it. All she could feel was the burning in her lungs and the beating of her heart. It was rhythmic as she passed by the few that wandered the sidewalks at this time of day. Most mammals were at work. She was just beginning her day.

Judy didn't keep track of how far she went. The distance didn't matter to her. She also didn't realize that her mind was telling her to go someplace in particular.

She watched the sights of the city pass by her in a blur as she continued down the sidewalk, she felt a break coming. Her breathing was quick and her legs burned. She didn't know how long she'd been going, but it was probably time for a quick breather. Judy came to a stop in front of a much older building on the corner of the street. She placed her paw on its weathered brick surface to brace herself as she stretched her legs again. Her eyes looked around her, finding nothing familiar about the place she was in, but a strange dread that she'd just done something incredibly stupid.

"So, you're a runner, too?" an infuriatingly familiar voice said.

Judy looked up, seeing a fox in a disgusting combination of colors. Green, purple, blue, and that interesting red fur color. How had she managed to get herself here?

"What are you doing here? Have you been following me?" she asked amidst breaths. The fox shook his head.

"No, ma'am. I have a feeling you might want to look at the building you happen to be leaning on."

Judy looked up, seeing a sign hanging above the door that read: "Wilde Psychotherapy"

"Come on in, I have cold water for you," Nick said as he gestured for her to walk inside with him. Judy hesitated, but she decided that a little bit of water wouldn't hurt. She wasn't staying for long.

Judy walked up the stairs of the old building and through the front door. Based on the outside, she was expecting the inside to be as old and weathered. She was proven wrong when she saw some very nice, but old furniture. It was comforting, almost reminding her of home.

Almost.

Judy walked further into the room. Bookshelves lined the walls and a couple of couches sat in the middle of the room with small end tables at their sides. A large staircase was on the left side of the room, where it led, a mystery. It was quaint. She hated to say that she really liked it.

Judy looked to her left where Nick was currently pouring her a glass of cold water from a dispenser that looked very out of place. "I'm glad that you finally decided to show up. I was beginning to wonder about you," he said while he handed her the small foam cup.

Judy gladly took it and gently sipped from it. "I wouldn't say that. I just happened to be running by."

"And you also just happened to stop and rest right next to my building? I'd say your mind had other plans, Ms. Hopps. You need this more than you think you do."

"Why would I ever want to tell a stranger how I feel?"

"Because you know that it's zero risk," he said without so much as a bit of hesitation. "I don't know you, and you don't know me. There will be no room for judgment in here. That's not my job. Now, I don't know what you've been through, but I've heard plenty of things from my other patients. I can guarantee that whatever it is that's bothering you can be fixed. The only way things  _will_  get fixed is if you open up. My job  _is_  to help a mammal in need. You need this more than you think you do."

A sigh of understanding was released from Judy's mouth as she stared down at the floor. Her mind was all over the place, stuck between whether she should trust him or run out of the building and away from this creep. She took a single step forward, feeling her mind gravitate towards the former. As he said it, it was zero risk. It would cost her only her time. No judgment. No money. Just the chance to improve her quality of life.

"I don't need this," Judy said defiantly, taking one final step forward, bringing her only a few inches from the fox. She grabbed a hold of his tie and pulled him closer to her own muzzle. "I want this."

The look on Nick's face after she grabbed his tie was that of complete bewilderment. After she released him, he put back on his usual infuriating grin. Adjusting the tie, he turned around and walked towards the staircase. Stopping at its base, Nick turned around and grinned at Judy.

"I thought you said you wanted this? Coming or not, Carrots?" Judy nodded and followed him up the stairs.

"I would think you'd know better than to call me, Carrots. Not very professional, don't you think?" she jabbed as they ascended the stairs. Coming to a choice between two doors, Nick opened the one on the right, rather than the one right in front of them. The door led to a room that was much like the floor below them, only no bookshelves lined the walls. What she saw was perhaps the most comforting room she'd ever seen.

Everything was designed with class, from the many paintings that hung from the walls to the extravagance of the wood molding. A single chair sat in front of a larger couch, and a large window in the far back wall was covered by elegant curtains. Nick offered the couch to Judy, who sat without question. Nick took the chair and sat with one foot propped up on the other knee.

"I don't know if you can tell, but professionalism isn't my forté. I believe it creates unnecessary tension, especially when dealing with the mind and how it works. Many individuals are uncomfortable with the fact that they have to do this; you are the perfect example. A relaxing and unrestricted environment promotes freedom. It helps my patients to open up a lot more."

"But the nickname… it's a little bit—"

"Insensitive? Perhaps, but I also believe that, as doctor and patient, we need to harbor a bond akin to that of friendship. Friends are those that you tell everything to. It's that type of relationship that we need to achieve quickly, otherwise, these sessions tend to… be useless. Joking around with each other is a great way to quicken that bonding process."

"It makes us more familiar with each other."

"Exactly. Now, if we are going to begin, I want to know everything. The way that I've found this to work best is if we start from the very beginning and look at every incident that could have possibly contributed to the way you feel now. Does anything come to mind?"

Judy thought back to her childhood. Growing up in Bunnyburrow, so many good memories came to her. Helping her dad out in the fields. Learning how to sew from her mother. Playing with her siblings on a hot summer day. The Carrot Days festival at the beginning of every planting season.

"Well, when I was nine, there was this bully named Gideon…"

* * *

Judy walked into the diner, her fresh and clean uniform on and a particularly interesting skip to her step. Everything should have felt like the world was going to end the moment she walked in, as the diner was packed and she could tell that many of the patrons were not happy with the wait for seating. Kristie was currently in the back preparing a tray that contained several plates of entrees. The brown bunny turned around right as Judy was punching in, beginning her workday.

"You seem different. What's going on?" she asked curiously. Judy looked at her friend with a rare smile.

"I don't know. I just feel great, Kris." Kristie did her best to stifle her excitement as she patted Judy on the shoulders and sneaked past her.

"Keep wearing that smile. You look a lot better with it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Mistakes**

**Written by Ande883**

**Edited by Cimar**

* * *

_Several Weeks Later_

It was her weekly routine at this point. Judy would wake up to her alarm much earlier than usual and go on her morning jog right to Nick's every Friday. They would sit and go through their session for about an hour. Then, depending on when Nick's next session with another patient was, they would keep talking about anything that came to mind.

Weeks ago, Judy would have scoffed at the idea that she was friends with a fox. She would have punched said messenger in the face had they told her that the fox would also be her therapist. She couldn't believe how incredible she felt now that she was opening up to someone, and also getting professional advice on how to deal with things that make her angry or upset.

It shouldn't have been so incredible, but Nick had gone above and beyond her expectations, even to discount their sessions since she stopped by so often. She was practically paying nothing. She wondered why she was getting such special treatment, but maybe she didn't realize that Nick was just that great of a mammal. He must have truly cared about her feelings to make her feel like life was something to be cherished, rather than something that we all just have to deal with.

Her first session with Nick was an eye-opener. She'd gone through one of the worst moments of her childhood; the day that her childhood bully took things too far and actually got physical. She did her best to tell him how she felt about the whole experience since it happened so long ago, and he was able to best tell her how to make amends with someone that she once could have said she actually hated.

She'd called her parents for the first time in a while and asked about where he was and how she could get in contact with him. They acted a bit surprised, but nonetheless gave her his phone number and she called him. He was even more surprised to hear from her, and they had a long chat about everything that had happened since the last saw each other. In the end, they even made a plan to get together and have a chat if she ever made it back home.

The simple act of getting to tell her childhood bully that there were no hard feelings was incredible, and the first of many wonders that Nick helped her with.

Judy saw life completely differently now. She appreciated the smaller things in life and did her best to try and see things through the eyes of another when someone made her angry. As she grew to hate her job, she got lazy and did things the way she wanted to do them instead of how she was trained. Now, she started to actually care more about her job and doing things correctly. She cared more about her customers.

She simply cared more about everything.

Life was no longer this nightmare that never seemed to end. She found joy in it all over the place. And to think that it started with her friend dragging her to a wedding she didn't want to go to.

After the first few sessions, she started to realize that Nick was more than just her therapist. He was her friend, and it made her wonder why she never did anything like this with Kristie. That bubbly bunny should have been the best person to talk to when something was bothering her, and yet Judy still refused to open up. Sure, she'd told Kristie about some of the things from her past, but never how they made her feel. Kristie was happy all of the time, but Judy didn't think Kristie could relate to how she was feeling.

There were two types of mammals that Judy would have wanted to open up to: Those who understood the mind and how it worked, and those who understood Judy's feelings. Kristie was neither of them. Nick was both.

Judy was currently on her typical jog to Nick's. It was a pretty terrible day out, cold and sprinkling a little bit. She didn't let that stop her from running, though. Nick said that public transportation was the one thing that she was allowed to hate.

As she approached the weathered building that Nick was currently in, she couldn't help but smile. She almost considered it a second home because she spent so much time here. Despite all that time, she only knew one room like the back of her paw, and that was the one up the stairs and to the right. It was the only room that they ever talked in apart from the occasional chat in the lower level.

Judy came to the few concrete steps before Nick's building and carefully walked up them, knowing that they were slippery from the rain. As she was about to open the door, it swung open, revealing Nick and his trademark grin and piercing green eyes, half lidded as they always were. He wore something different this time around. It was a gaudy yellow Pawaiian shirt instead of the green. His terrible blue and purple striped tie still hung loosely around his neck. The sight made Judy cringe.

"Do you wear anything else, Slick?" she said, covering her eyes and chuckling. The nickname for him came only a couple of sessions after her first one. Seeing that he really liked to get on her nerves and call her "Carrots", she decided to get back at him and get a name for him as well. He didn't seem to mind it, like how she absolutely hated hers at first, though. But she didn't ever admit this to him, but she actually liked her nickname now.

"Hey, they fit, and you know nothing about style. Would you rather me walk around naked? I know that your first trip to a Naturalist Club didn't go so well," he shot back.

"Only time! I am never letting Kristie take me back there ever again!" Judy shuddered as she recalled the incident. It was one of Kristie's worst attempts at making Judy feel better long ago. Apparently the brown doe was a long-time patron of the establishment, to which Judy almost wasn't surprised, and had decided that to make Judy feel better, she needed a little bit of nudity.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

"Yeah, right. Come on in, Carrots. There are things to be spoken about!" Nick moved to the side to allow Judy in. He even held a small towel for her, which she took graciously and dried her fur that went uncovered by her clothes, namely her head and arms which were rather damp for the little bit that it was raining.

Nick and Judy walked up the stairs and entered the door on the right and Judy instantly took to making the couch her home for the next hour. Nick took his usual seat and pulled out a clipboard, one which he could take notes on if he felt that it was necessary.

"So, how's your week been? Anything you'd like to talk about in particular?" It was the question that she'd heard plenty of times before. It was how they opened every session up; a reflection of everything that Judy had dealt with over the last seven days that might indicate her progress out of her depression.

Other weeks it took her no time at all to think of something, but recently she'd started to hesitate and require a minute or two of thinking before something really caught her attention.

"Well, on Tuesday my very annoying neighbors were being extra annoying…"

"As per usual," Nick added in with a wink. "Go on."

"...and as you know, I'm usually not the kindest to them. I feel like they act this annoying because they know it bothers me."

"The worst kind of neighbor, I can assure you. So what did you do this time?"

"Well, instead of banging on my wall and shouting, I knocked on their door and kindly asked them to be a little more courteous to the other tenants. They looked at me for a second before they closed the door. I didn't hear a peep out of them for the rest of the night. I still haven't!" Judy exclaimed, maybe getting a little too excited about the reaction of her neighbors.

"Very good. I'm glad you didn't go for a violent reaction this time. I think you're right in saying that they act that way to get a reaction out of you, and I feel that you may have just thrown them off that much by acting so "out of character" to them. So, is there anything else that you'd like to talk about right now?"

"No, not really. Everything has been great," she replied simply, but Nick saw that she was lying. She adjusted her position on the couch as if she was nervous about something. She was hiding something from him.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, gaining her attention unlike before. She seemed more alert and cautious about what she said now. "Because I have been wondering something for a few weeks. Have you been hiding something from me?"

"W-What? Why w-would I d-do that to you? I t-tell you everything!" Judy said, but she knew that he was on to her. He had her stuck in a corner, unable to make an escape.

"Judy, please, what's on your mind that you haven't told me? I'm here to help, remember?" As he tried to coerce her gently, his emerald gaze penetrated the barrier she had quickly set up between them. She melted like putty in his paws.

She was opening up before she knew it.

"It was about a year before I started at the diner… I was the first rabbit to get into the Zootopia Police Academy…" Judy said, avoiding making eye contact with the fox across from her. Nick sat quietly, hardly believing what he was hearing, though after finding out who Judy really was and getting to know the happy, more normal version of her, he could understand that she was a go-getter and didn't fall into the normal bunny stereotype.

"You made it into the academy? That's pretty impressive, especially for a bunny. What got you there?"

"Well, my childhood bully, Gideon… he usually picked on me because when I was little I wanted to be a police officer. I always wanted to make the world a better place, and so that became my dream. I wanted to be the first rabbit police officer. No one really supported me, but I still worked as hard as I could and got into the ZPA."

"I can see now that it didn't work the way you wanted it to. Why?" he replied quietly.

Judy hesitated for a while. She had never told anyone about this except for her closest friends, which consisted of Kristie and no one else. Right now, Nick was quickly getting to that point. She decided that he could hear it.

"Well, I wasn't exactly treated as a real cadet. The others liked to pick on me a lot; it was like I was nine all over again. They would pull stupid pranks on me all the time, and they were usually harmless."

"Usually?"

"It wasn't until things went wrong. One of the many methods of training was an obstacle course, and the obstacles were based upon the districts of the city. The Rainforest District was some ropes hanging above mud pits, and we had to climb across. The other cadets decided it would be funny to try and make me fall while I was going. They would move the ropes I was on to the point that I couldn't stay on, and I fell off. The only issue was that I didn't fall into the mud. They had shaken the ropes so much I was flung to the side, falling onto the hard ground. I broke my leg and sprained one of my wrists. I couldn't complete the Academy and was told to come back next year, but I never had the guts to actually try it again. I was still the bunny that flunked the Academy, and I would always be that."

"If you want to know the truth, I know you'd be able to do it. You'd make a fantastic cop," Nick said, but it didn't really help Judy feel any better.

"I got that from a few people, but it wasn't enough. My parents weren't sad that it happened, but told me that they were right about how bunnies couldn't be cops. I told them time and time again that I could have done it, but they never listened, so I packed my bags and left Bunnyburrow. Up until recently, that was the last time I'd spoken to my family; nearly six years ago. I just couldn't stand to be around people that so blindly fell into every single stereotype about bunnies, especially since they tried to get me to forget my dream of being a police officer. I moved to Zootopia and started working at the diner, and the rest is history… I've been here ever since."

Nick was dumbfounded. He knew Judy to be an outstanding person before, but to hear what she'd gone through… it was unlike anything he'd heard before. Nick had listened to the stories of people who'd killed, had best friends die in their arms, all of the most horrific and horrible things happen to them, but this was possibly the most heartbreaking thing he'd ever heard. Her dream was taken away from her, all because of some stupid antics from her classmates at the Academy and the lack of support from her family.

"Judy," Nick said as he heard her sniff from the couch. He looked at her. She was curled into a ball in the corner of the couch cushion, unable to face Nick after telling him that. He looked at her with pity, wishing that there was something he could do. It wasn't professional for him to provide physical comfort to his patients, but then again, he didn't like professionalism. Nick stood up from his chair and plopped down on the couch right next to Judy. Her ears moved up, revealing her tear-soaked face and entrancing violet eyes, red from her crying. Without even thinking, Nick pulled her close to him and brought her into the most heartfelt hug he'd ever given anyone. She kept her head against his chest, letting her tears stain his shirt.

She continued to cry as he patted her gently on the back, hoping that she would calm down enough to talk to him. It almost made him cry seeing her this way, but he managed to maintain his composure.

"Judy, I'm glad you told me. I'm guessing that this is something that not many people know about apart from your family?"

She shook her head from within his grasp. Pulling her head from his chest, she looked caringly at him. "I've only ever told Kristie this. It's obviously not something I'm proud of."

"And why not?" he said, causing Judy to back away from him slightly. "Because you failed? I don't see that when I look at you. I see a bunny who didn't care what other people thought about you. You endured bullying through most of your childhood because you wanted to make something of yourself. You were the first bunny to ever get into the police academy! That's incredible! Failures are supposed to help us learn, even when they weren't entirely our fault. And especially in this case where you can't blame yourself for what the other cadets did to you."

"You're not just my therapist, are you?" Judy said, looking into his eyes with a bright smile. He stared back, his lips curling into a similar smile as he brought her closer to him again.

"No. I'm your friend, and as your friend, I'm telling you to quit holding that over your head. I know you have what it takes to get back there and show everyone that you're not just some country bunny. You're Judy," he said, poking his finger delicately into her shoulder. "You can do amazing things."

Nick could feel the heat rising from his shirt. He had to resist fanning it out to try and make himself more comfortable, but he just had to try and contain himself. Never before had anyone made him feel so nervous. Obviously, no one had ever seen him nervous before because he was a master at keeping his emotions hidden, but she was getting dangerously close to breaking him. He watched her every movement; the way she stared into his eyes, the way she sat, the way he noticed her tail flick at him every so often. He wondered if she knew that she was doing it.

"Judy…" he began, instantly feeling his breath catch, making it hard for him to speak clearly. He coughed a few times to clear his throat before he continued. "Has anyone ever told you how amazing you are?"

Her reaction was priceless. She looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before a very noticeable blush appeared on her cheeks and she rubbed her splayed back ears, bringing her gaze to the floor.

"Not like that, no," she replied with a giggle.

"Well, you are, and don't let yourself forget it. You know, I think you're my favorite patient. It doesn't feel like work when you're here. It feels like we're just talking as friends. I like that. I like  _you_."

"I mean, I like you, too, Nick. It doesn't feel like I'm talking to a therapist during these sessions. I feel like I'm talking to a friend. You are my friend."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Judy, but there's something about you that makes me want more than that. You're a great friend, but I feel like you have a lot more to offer me than just friendship. I can tell that you feel the same way about me." Nick watched as her expression remained mostly the same, but he saw her nose twitch a few times. She was confused by what he said.

"Judy, let me just show you what I mean." Nick began leaning forward, his muzzle getting closer and closer to hers. As he approached, he could see her do the same, getting as close as possible without their lips touching. She brought her paws onto his shoulder and her eyes had closed, but right before Nick made his final move towards her, they shot open and she gave him a full force slap to the face, causing Nick to yelp in pain and back away quickly.

His paw went right to the area of contact, which burned with intense pain. This was not a playful slap. It was filled with hate and anger. When his eyes looked back at her, she looked like she wanted to kill him, her eyes narrowed and with tears running down them and her shoulders moving up and down from her heavy breathing.

"You jerk! Why would you do something like that?" she screamed at him. Nick still rubbed at his pulsating cheek, the pain from her slap still resonating, but slowly dissipating.

"Can I just explain myself—"

"No, you don't get a chance to explain yourself! I opened up to you! I trusted you, Nick, and you used me, for… for this… sick game? Was that all you wanted to do? Get with me in the end? Was I some sort of goal for you to reach, because I doubt that I was actually one of your "patients" as you like to call them. Tell me, are you actually a therapist? Or do you spend all day trying to hook up with the people that you pretend to help?"

"Carrots…"

"No! I don't want to hear it! You manipulated me, and now guess what? I hate that you used me! I hate  _you!_ "

Nick took a step back as Judy's anger seemed only to grow.

"You're a good for nothing user and I never want to see your face again!" Judy got off of the couch and ran out of the room, Nick chasing after her but stopping at the door. She was already down the stairs by that point and rounding the corner to get out of Nick's building. He slowly approached the summit of the stairwell and looked longingly down at where he barely caught his last glimpse of Judy's foot. Sighing, Nick turned around and opened the door straight ahead. It was the door that remained unopened during business hours, the one that was a mystery to all of his patients. It was nothing exciting, but more private and unnecessary to show them. For the last several years, it was the place where he rested his head at night.

Entering his "bedroom" if one could even call it that, Nick sat down on the mattress that lay on the floor, uncovered and stained from age. It wasn't much of a room, only containing that mattress and a closet filled with a couple of Pawaiian shirts. There was a small and very old dresser that sat opposite the mattress as well as an old chair where another much smaller fox currently sat, looking at his friend.

"Ya blew it, didn't ya?" the deep and gravelly voice chided, unhappy with Nick and the choices that he'd made. Nick rubbed his face, not wanting to look at his friend.

"Yeah, I did, Finnick. You were right all along. I shouldn't have done anything like that, especially not to her. I just wish she saw how much she needs someone, even if it's not me, but I doubt I'll be seeing her next week, or ever again." Finnick hopped off of the chair that he sat on and walked over to Nick. He stood in front of Nick for a few seconds before he slapped Nick as hard as he could across the face. Nick didn't retaliate; all he did was rub the sore spot from where Judy and now Finnick had slapped him.

"I didn't think that bunny got you good enough. Head on straight now?"

Even through all of the pain his face was in, Nick managed to curl his lips into a smile. "Yeah, I guess so." He turned to Finnick. "I was an idiot, wasn't I?"

"You're tellin' me. But she's not gone like you think. Give her some time and she might understand. She'll be back."

Nick looked out of the curtain covered window beside him, seeing the sky as dark as he'd ever seen it just beginning to spit out rain.

"I sure hope you're right."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 (Finale) - Do I Have Permission?**

**Written by Ande883**

**Edited by Cimar**

* * *

_Three Months Later_

Judy is depressed...again

She thought that things were getting better, but she was wrong. Her therapist wasn't out to help her. He just wanted  _her_ , and nothing else. He'd probably done that to countless other unsuspecting mammals, too. She was just another one of his targets.

Judy hadn't been this bad in forever. It was even worse than before she went to that stupid wedding and met his stupid face. Somehow he'd brought her to the very top, making her feel better than ever before, and then thrown her back down to rock bottom. She may have been able to only go up, but there was one more option that no one ever really thought about.

Staying the same.

She obviously didn't want to stay feeling this way. She knew what it was like to be happy, and the contrary was terrible. She didn't like to do anything, her job sucked even more than before, she stayed inside whenever she had free time, and never smiled. She was back to where she was five months ago, only this time it felt much worse.

She couldn't have too much resentment towards him, though. He was, after all, the one that got her to have a new outlook on life and feel like a million dollars every single day. He helped her see that the joy was all around her. He did what he said he was going to do that night at the wedding.

But it was all for his own personal gain. He acquired her trust, established a bond with her, and then attacked, hoping that he'd get what he wanted from the start. The worst part was that she almost gave into it. A small part of her still wished that she did.

Looking past the tricks and the games that he played, he was a genuinely nice person, and very easy on the eyes. Judy had said no to ever trying to get involved with him for one simple reason: he was her therapist. Everybody knows you don't date your therapist, no matter how attractive they may be. Judy wasn't the kind of mammal to do something hateful and stick with that feeling. She stormed out on him angry, and with good reason, but she still felt like it was a bit harsh. Did she actually hate him? No. She didn't, but she wasn't the least bit happy with his lack of consent for trying to kiss her.

 _But you have to admit, it probably would have felt pretty awesome…_  she thought, but instantly got rid of those thoughts, nearly slapping herself in the face.

"No! He was a creep! Why do I have to keep thinking about him like that?" she shouted out loud, instantly remembering why she should always keep her thoughts to herself when in her apartment.

" _Because maybe you don't actually think he's a creep, bunny. Is this really that hard to figure out?"_

Judy palmed her face and sighed in annoyance, falling backward onto her bed. She didn't hear another voice trying to give her advice, only her own in response.

"Yes, it is that hard, Bucky! This fo… guy tried to make out with me without asking if I liked him that way! I should retch at the thought of him, but I keep thinking I made a mistake… what do you guys think?"

" _I think you should at least go apologize to him. You did say some pretty mean stuff to him right before you stormed out,"_  Pronk added. Judy's ears shot up from behind her and she sat up, turning herself to face the wall.

"Wait, how did you know I did that? Can you really hear me from that far away?"

" _You were talking to Kristie about it weeks ago on the phone. Kinda hard not to hear when you yell all the time."_

"Hey! I do not… ok, you have a point, there. But do you really think that would do anything? Would he even care if I came and apologized to him?"

" _It's not about what he would think of it. If you say you're sorry, the guilt of lashing out could go away and you'd feel better. Get it?"_

Judy did get it, but she still wanted to avoid that fox at all costs. "I think I get it, but I still need some time to think about that. Thanks, you guys. That actually helped a lot."

" _Yeah, don't get used to it, bunny. We're just tired of you moping around constantly."_

Judy looked at her clothes and decided that they were good enough for a run. If there was anything that would help her clear her mind enough to think right now, it was going for a run. Judy didn't even bother stretching this time. She wasn't expecting to go too far from her place, so she hoped that it would be fine. Judy burst out of her apartment and started running. She hadn't taken the time to look out her window before, though, and she quickly learned that it was pouring rain. It wasn't a big deal to her, though. She actually liked running in the rain.

Everyone she passed held an umbrella and gave her strange looks, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get away from her troubles for a while.

As she moved along, she almost felt the rain fall harder and in the distance, she heard claps of thunder. It wasn't the greatest rain to be running in, but she was already soaked to the bone. To her, there was no turning back.

While she ran, in her mind Judy saw Nick. The way he looked at her at the wedding, the way she looked back at him. Everything great about him came back to her and it made her want to find him. All this time, she'd been thinking of him as a terrible mammal, when in reality he simply made a mistake. One of the things that crossed her mind was how he looked at her when she was telling him off. He didn't look like a creep, or someone who had done this before. He looked like a friend that had hurt someone he cared about.

The rabbit shook her head. She was not about to think like that, so she focused on running, putting on a burst of speed and pumping her legs even harder. Nick didn't care about her. He just wanted to use her, and that was it. Everything he told her was a lie. That was what she tried to tell herself, but it all went back to that look. It was the last time she'd seen him, and it stuck with her. She couldn't get that face out of her mind.

Judy closed her eyes, shaking her head even harder, feeling some tears mix into her rain-soaked fur. Before she opened her eyes again, Judy ran straight into some unsuspecting mammal. She collided with them, causing her to fall into a puddle on the sidewalk, and for the mammal to fall backwards. She groaned in pain, grabbing at the shoulder that hit the pavement.

"Ma'am. Are you alright?" said a familiar voice. Judy knew exactly who it was, and she didn't want to open her eyes, but as she felt a paw grab her own, she opened them.

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry… wait… Judy? What are you doing here?" Nick asked. The rabbit kept her eyes narrow as she looked at him, removing her paw from his gentle grasp.

"I was on a run, not that it matters to you. What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. I was on a run," he replied.

"Yeah, right! Like you would ever—" Judy looked at his clothes. He wore a tight-fitting shirt and a pair of athletic shorts, a far cry from his usual attire. "Oh, I guess you were. I didn't know you were a runner."

"I mean, I did tell you that when you first came to my place, or have you forgotten all about me?" he said, though it almost sounded like he said it in spite. She looked at him oddly, wondering why he would talk to her like that. Nick offered his paw to her again, seeing that her shoulder was hurting. "C'mere. Let's sit down instead of you laying in a puddle." Judy stared at his paw for a moment, but then grabbed it and he helped her up. Nick led her to a covered bench that was a short walk away, and the two sat down, drenched to the core. Judy had even started shivering.

"Look, I don't know what you're doing acting all nice like this, but I don't want to talk to you," Judy said, keeping her gaze fixed on the concrete floor.

"I don't blame you. We didn't exactly leave on good terms," he responded. "But I'm acting nice because it's the only way I know how. The way I was three months ago… I don't know what got into me. I've never felt the urge to do that to someone until you started seeing me. There's something about you, Judy. You're different from every other mammal out there."

"What do you want from me?" Judy asked. Though it seemed simple, it was a very loaded question. There was a lot that Nick wanted from Judy. Her time, her company, her smile, everything about her.

"I want you to be happy, Judy. That was my goal from the moment we met, and towards the end, you were almost to that point. There was something missing, though. Something that I wanted to fill. This is going to sound crazy, but I'm going to put it as honestly as possible. I feel like that might be the best way to put it."

Judy looked at Nick. He'd been staring at the floor just as she had, only she looked at his eyes. Surrounding his emeralds was a sea of red, like he'd been crying. It wasn't until she heard him sniff that she realized that he  _was_  crying.

"I'm madly in love with you, Judy. I've never felt that way about anyone until I found you. I doubt you'd want to be with me, especially after the way I treated you, but I just want you to know that there wasn't a moment that went by after our last session that I didn't hate myself for what I did. It was inappropriate and selfish, and I hurt you. I'm sorry." Nick quickly glanced over to where Judy sat. She avoided eye contact with him, and judging by her silence, she probably didn't want to talk to him.

"Look, I know that I messed up, and you probably want to get back to running, but I just want you to know that I have always cared about you," he said quietly. "If you don't feel the same way, then that's fine with me. I'll get out of your fur and you'll never have to deal with me again." Nick waited for her response, but what seemed like minutes passing told him that she had nothing to say, so he stood up. Walking towards the sidewalk, Nick turned back around and looked at the rabbit, still sitting with her head towards the ground.

"Goodbye, Judy," he said painfully, turning back around and walking away and into the rain.

"Wait!"

Nick's ears shot up, moving towards the sound. He stopped and turned around. His eyes were met with Judy's, the beautiful violet eyes that looked so different when filled with tears. She simply stood by the covered bench, looking at him and waiting for something. Judy walked forward, mere inches away from Nick. She gently took hold of his arm and continued looking back into his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that day. I overreacted, and I'm sure that scared you, but I can't let you go without knowing that I understand why you did what you did. You've been right all along. There is something here; I can feel it. Maybe I couldn't before, but right now I'm more certain than ever. You helped me find the joy in life before. Now, if you'll have me, I hope we can help each other find it together." Nick looked down that the bunny. He turned his body fully around so that they were fully facing each other. Nick brought his paws onto her shoulders, rubbing them gently and smiling.

"I know we can. Now, do I have permission to kiss you?" he said with the brightest smile he'd ever worn. Judy leaned forward as she laughed. Looking back up at him with an equally bright smile, she moved towards him.

"You do."

Their lips came together, the feeling of love inside of them stronger than either of them had ever felt before. It was this feeling that told Judy that she'd made the right choice, and that there was nothing that could make this day any better. As their lips separated, Nick still smiled down at her. For too long, Nick kept his gaze fixed on her, and eventually she couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you still staring at me?" she giggled.

"I just remembered something. I hate that you work at that stupid diner. I feel like you might be a bit more suited to something else."

"And what would that be?"

"Well," he began. "I know you've always wanted to be a cop. I just might be able to help you get back on track."

Judy looked at Nick, skeptical of what he said. "How could you possibly do that? You're a therapist!"

Nick waggled one of his fingers at her. "Not just any therapist. I might have left some details of my profession out. The ZPD employs me as a therapist for their officers. I might be able to talk to some higher ups about getting you back into the Academy. What do you think?"

Judy normally would have tried as hard as she could to contain her excitement, but right now she felt as though she was nine again, more excited about being a cop than ever. With Nick at her side and believing in her the whole way, there was nothing that could possibly stop her.

"You're amazing, you know that?" she said. Nick playfully pulled her close to his side.

"Only for you, Carrots. Only for you."

* * *

Nick lifted his helmet off of his head, almost glad that the simulation was finally over. He looked over to where Judy was just taking her helmet off. She looked at him strangely, which quickly turned into a look of sadness, and then finally into tears. Nick quickly got out of his seat and went over to his wife, wrapping her up in a comforting hug while stroking her back and ears, listening to her calm down.

"I'm so in love with you, Judy. Don't you ever forget that. Why on earth did you pick that scenario?"

Judy wiped away her tears and looked into his eyes. "I don't know, I just have been feeling like something sad, you know?" Nick chuckled as he pulled her into another hug.

"No, I don't know." Nick released her from the hug. He knelt down in front of her and looked straight into her eyes. "Are you nervous about the kits? Do you feel like something's wrong?" Judy shook her head.

"No, It's just… life is about to change for us both. You're going to be a great dad! What if I'm not a great mom?"

Nick figured it was just the pregnancy talking, but she still needed to know that everything was alright. "You bunnies… so gosh darn emotional… You're going to be a great mom, Judy. I know you will. They are going to love you so much. If they are anything like their dad, then they will be the best at loving you." Nick finished by placing a kiss in between her ears and bringing her in for one last hug, just to make sure that she was alright.

"Let's get out of here. I'm starving," Judy said, suddenly not sad anymore and more focused on food than anything else.

"I'm going to have to get used to those mood swings for a little while, aren't I?"

"It's almost over, so just a few more days, " Judy replied. "The due dates almost here and you still need to get used to my cravings, because its bugga burgers tonight!" Judy shouted as they left Fitwik's Arcade.

"Could be worse," Nick said, not seeing her choice being too strange.

"With whipped cream," she added.

"I should have seen it coming…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I want to extend huge thanks to Cimar for allowing me to be a part of this project. I had a blast getting to write this little story, and it's been great getting to know everyone else that's contributed as well. Hope you all enjoyed!


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